Lando Norris won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami after 110 races, ranking him eighth among drivers who took the longest to achieve their first victory, with Sergio Perez holding the record at 190 races before his first win.
Highlights
– ‣ Lando Norris won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami after 110 race starts, shedding his nickname “Lando ‘Nowins'”.
– ‣ Norris ranks eighth among drivers who took the longest time to win their first Grand Prix, with notable drivers like Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button taking slightly longer.
– ‣ Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barichello, and Mark Webber are among the drivers who took over 100 races to achieve their first Formula 1 victory, with Webber needing 130 races.
– ‣ Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez are the two active drivers who took the longest to win their first Grand Prix, with Perez achieving his first victory after 190 races.
Oh, what a day for Lando Norris! After a whopping 110 starts, he finally clinched his first Formula 1 Grand Prix win in Miami. Gone are the days when folks cheekily dubbed him Lando ‘Nowins’. Yeah, that nickname’s in the trash now.
But let’s not forget, the journey to that first victory? It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Norris isn’t alone; some legends took even longer to taste that sweet champagne on the podium. Yep, even bigger names than the McLaren ace had to wait.
Landing in eighth place, Norris’s 110-race wait seems almost modest. Remember the 2021 Russian Grand Prix? Oh, he was close then, but alas, the rain had other plans.
Now, onto some F1 royalty. Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button, both former world champs, edged out Norris by just a hair. Rosberg needed 111 races for his maiden win, while Button crossed that line after 113 races. Talk about perseverance.
Jarno Trulli, oh, the one-hit wonder of Monaco 2004, took 117 races to find his glory. And Rubens Barrichello? He waited for 124 races before his moment came in the 2000 German Grand Prix. Mark Webber, the Aussie legend, had to wait for 130 races. His patience paid off in 2009, also at the German Grand Prix.
But wait, there’s more. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, they’re the real ‘patience is a virtue’ poster boys. Sainz’s strategic stroke of luck at the 2022 British Grand Prix came after 150 races. And Perez? Talk about a dramatic first win. Nearly knocked out in the first lap at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, he hustled from the back all the way to first. And it only took him… wait for it… 190 races!
So, hats off to these warriors of the track. Their stories, penned with the help of Kada Sarkozi, remind us: in F1, every second counts, but sometimes, it’s the years that matter most.
